to the manor born

adjective

From an upper class or wealthy family.

“Near-synonyms: born to the purple, born with a silver spoon in one's mouth”

Meanings

adjectiveto the manor born (not comparable)
  1. not comparableFrom an upper class or wealthy family.

    Near-synonyms: born to the purple, born with a silver spoon in one's mouth

    3 more examples

    In fact, he was to the manor born. He was a fifth-generation Washingtonian, born in the national capital on April 30, 1903; there he resided until his death on August 20, 1966.

    1997, Dan D. Nimmo, Chevelle Newsome, Political Commentators in the United States in the 20th Century: A Bio-critical Sourcebook, Greenwood Publishing Group, →ISBN, page 172

    None of these financiers was to the manor born. Cornelius Vanderbilt had to leave school at age eleven to help his father. Daniel Drew was born on a farm, and Jay Gould was paid two dollars a week as a blacksmith's assistant.

    2002, Jerry W. Markham, A Financial History of the United States: From Christopher Columbus to the Robber Barons (1492-1900), M.E. Sharpe, →ISBN, page 251

    Wade Hampton was to the manor born. One of the largest landholders in the South, educated in the Southern gentlemanly tradition, skilled with guns and horses, courtly with women, experienced in politics, one would expect that he was cut from the same scarlet cloak as the dashing cavalryman he served under, J. E. B. (Jeb) Stuart.

    2008, H. W. Crocker, III, The Politically Incorrect Guide to the Civil War, Regnery Publishing, →ISBN

    Synonyms: born to the purple, born with a silver spoon in one's mouth

  2. not comparableEggcorn of to the manner born.

    Presently he arrived and mounted the granite boulder as if to the manor born.

    1911, L. M. Montgomery, The Story Girl, Sir Isaac Pitman and Sons, page 282

Synonyms & antonyms

adjectiveFrom an upper class or wealthy family.

Origin

Rhymes & wordplay

Sounds the same

Cite this entry
APA

to the manor born. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/to%20the%20manor%20born

MLA

“to the manor born.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/to%20the%20manor%20born. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “to the manor born,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/to%20the%20manor%20born.

Source: to the manor born on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.